April 6, 2020 The Nation.TOP: JESSICA GRIFFIN /
THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
VIA AP; MIDDLE: AP / MATT ROURKE
before the trial in October of 2019. Like Kim Foxx in
Chicago, Chesa Boudin in San Francisco, and Wesley
Bell in Ferguson, Missouri, Krasner is part of a wave
of progressive prosecutors elected on promises to end
mass incarceration, decriminalize marijuana possession,
dramatically reform the cash bail system, and end the
death penalty.
“Keir provided information that her public defender’s
office independently collected that was useful in help-
ing my office reconsider White’s murder charge,” says
Krasner. Among the facts unearthed by Bradford-Grey
was Sean Schellenger’s criminal record: He had a 2008
arrest in Florida for battery and resisting detention, al-
though the charges were later dropped. In Pennsylvania’s
Chester County he’d also been found guilty of disorderly
conduct in 2009 and had been charged with burglary,
resisting arrest, criminal trespassing, and theft in 2001.
“The final decision was up to me in reducing White’s
charge to manslaughter, and that was due in part to re-
viewing new information that was being given to us,” the
DA told me.
Krasner, who served as a defense attorney for over
30 years, described White’s case as “extraordinary.”
“I saw video footage of the confron-
tation between White and Schellenger
over 20 times,” Krasner says. “Although
the clip was silent, a great deal of White’s
account when we questioned him cor-
roborated what he described that night
as an act of self-defense. My office even-
tually charged him with manslaughter
because we felt that White’s actions were
those of imperfect self- defense, based on
his use of the knife and other factors.”
Another factor that helped White’s case was the finan-
cial support given to the Defender Association of Philadel-
phia. Last summer the Philadelphia City Council voted to
increase the budget for the taxpayer-funded organization.
“With more funding, we were able to hire more
experts, send attorneys out of state to conduct inter-
views, and facilitate mock jury trials to prepare Mike,”
Bradford-Gray says. “This case reignited my optimism
in the legal system because it showed that working-class
people don’t have to go into debt in order to seek justice.”T
he defense strategy of humanizing michael
White paid off. On October 17, 2019, he was found
not guilty of voluntary manslaughter but was con-
victed of one misdemeanor count of tampering with
evidence, involving his disposal of the knife. He was
cleared of all other charges. On January 9, 2020, White was
sentenced to two years’ probation, with no jail time.
“What people have to understand,” Krasner says, “is
that when a jury finds one not guilty of manslaughter, that
means they had an overwhelming reasonable doubt—
more than just 51 percent—which essentially shows that
the public defender’s office defended White well. I think
all of those involved in this case worked their hardest to
remain fair and seek justice.”
While the verdict was a huge relief to White and his
supporters, not everyone in Philadelphia celebrated.Conservative commentators and leaders criticized Kras-
ner’s role in reducing White’s sentencing in local and
national publications.
“Krasner’s outrageous undercharging of Michael White
once again raises the troubling questions of whose side is he
on, and how much longer can Philadelphia afford to have a
district attorney who proudly describes himself as a ‘public
defender with power’?” wrote former federal and state
prosecutor George Parry in an op-ed for The Philadelphia
Inquirer published a week before White was sentenced.
“Larry Krasner said he wouldn’t prosecute certain
offenses and the bad guys got the message,” wrote Repub-
lican activist Jennifer Stefano in a Wall Street Journal op-ed
published a day after White’s sentencing. “Mr. Krasner
considers himself a reformer, but social justice is no sub-
stitute for criminal justice.”
“Our life sentence began on July 12, 2018 when Sean
was fatally stabbed with a deadly weapon,” wrote Linda
Schellenger in a statement. “The sentencing is, hopefully,
the last episode in Krasner’s finely orchestrated obstruction
of justice. We have endured enough pain at the hands of
The Killer, The DA and Bradford-Grey. Sean Schellenger
was intelligent, articulate, successful and kind and no one
can ever take those qualities away from him or us!”
Still, the backlash against Krasner has been minor
compared with the campaign against Kim Foxx, whose
controversial handling of the bizarre case involving Em-
pire actor Jussie Smollett threatens her reelection. “I’m
not bothered by conservative critics that resort to Trump
talking points as an attempt to dismiss the important
work being done right now in my office,” Krasner says.
“As far as my thoughts on the Schellenger family, I have
no comment in regards to the remarks they have said
about me in the press. I have spoken to Linda several
times and can understand the pain she is going through
at this time in response to the trauma.”
While the political divisions exposed by the trial are
still playing out in the press, White remains focused on
getting his life back together—considering a return to
college, homing in on his poetry and musical interests,
and taking some time to reflect on the past two years.
“As I strive to move forward with my life, I will never
forget that an unfortunate incident led to the death of a
man who meant something to his family and friends,”
White says. “I have gone past that alley in Rittenhouse a
few times to pay my respects. Sean lost his life, and I lost
some of myself there as well. The only thing I can do now
is take this second chance that justice has finally granted
me to be better. That’s all I can do.” Q“Sean lost
his life, and I
lost some of
myself there
as well.
The only
thing I can
do now is
take this sec-
ond chance
that justice
has finally
granted me
to be better.”
— Michael WhiteDay of reckoning:
White arrives at the
courthouse, where,
although acquitted
of manslaughter, he
was sentenced to
two years’ probation
for tampering with
evidence.Larry Krasner: Phila-
delphia’s new district
attorney is part of a
nationwide movement
that sees prosecutors
as uniquely empow-
ered to deliver justice.